300 Years
by Kurai Ummei
Summary: Many people were lost in the war against Voldemort. Regardless of side, whole families were shattered or erased entirely. Amidst the postwar mockery of peace, Harry Potter decides he just can't let things sit. Being a Master of Death has to be good for something, right? Well okay, he might need a little help to pull this one off... (Warnings: Jaded!Harry, moral grays, Evil!Author)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Giftfic for Kavali, who inspires me or drives me nuts depending on the day. A hat-tip to Forthright for the idea to use 100-word snippet chapters to tell a story, though I did end up just approximating it at 100 words or so.

Title: 300 Years

Synopsis: Many people were lost in the war against Voldemort. Regardless of side, whole families were shattered or erased entirely. Amidst the postwar mockery of peace, Harry J Potter decides he just can't let things sit. Being a Master of Death has to be good for something, right? Well okay, he might need a little help to pull this one off...

Warnings: Jaded!Harry, shameless fan service, cookie obsessions, moral grays, conversations in pajamas.

One:

Tuesday morning broke bright and cheery. A shame that the weather completely ignored the moods of nearly everyone in England. Between the paper thin smiles below empty eyes on Diagon Alley, and the afraid-to-be-relieved muggle news casts about a sudden end to the mysterious killing sprees, it should have, by all accounts, been pouring rain enough to flood.

"So Ginny made cookies yesterday, and I brought you guys some. Oatmeal is your favorite, right 'Mione?" Harry's mouth attempted to tilt into a half-smile as he sat there squinting in the sunlight, if only for his friends' benefit. Withdrawing two carefully wrapped packages of cookies, with curly ribbon ties even, he set them down.


	2. Chapter 2

Two:

"I know you prefer double chocolate Ron, but George made off with all of them. No really! Every last one." An almost-real tilt of the lips this time as Harry remembered George's shenanigans. Mrs. Weasley had walked into the kitchen, and the sight of her two remaining children quietly cooking for themselves had set 'that' look on her face. George immediately broke out the comedy act as best he could, and tears were narrowly avoided.

"Well, I don't have a lot of time to visit today. Working on something, yeah? I'll be back tomorrow." He half-waved and turned, walking back up the hill to the graveyard's exit. Politely leaving the grounds before apparating away.


	3. Chapter 3

Three:

"Yeeeees! Yes! YEEESSSS! Woohoooooooo!" Yang watched with amusement as her sister wasted scythe ammo in controlled bursts at the ground to bounce around.

"Ugh, really? Will she ever grow up?" Weiss scoffed, poorly hiding a smile at Ruby's antics. "Of course we graduated... it isn't like she expected to fail, so why is she so... so... happy?" She finished lamely, tossing long white hair over her shoulder.

"Aw, come on Weiss! She's been really stressed with finals, just let her get it out of her system. 'Kay?" Yang pretended to be straightening her gloves, attention absorbed into the act to give Weiss a moment to hide her grin. The girl never did get over her prickliness at being caught in a moment of 'plebeian' emotion showing.


	4. Chapter 4

Four:

Death was having a bad day. No really, an _awful_ day. Even with an infinite amount of time to accomplish his tasks, it seemed like every time he pulled out his Death Journal, it had more pages in it of things he needed to do. Skeletal fingers pinched the small amount of nose-ridge he had in hopes of relieving the headache pounding away in his skull. With a put upon sign at the senselessness of an empty skull having the ability to feel pain, much less have a migraine, Death crossed out item number 327,422,611,003 on his to do list. It had been a fairly straight forward meet-and-greet for a taxi driver from Taiwan.


	5. Chapter 5

Five:

Ex-taxi driver sent onward with a smile, or at least a skeleton's best attempt, and a few kind words about good spots to wait for his family to pass on in a few decades. Check.

"Hmmm next is..." Another long sigh as Death read downward to discover that item 327,422,611,004 was dealing with a cult of necromancers in Australia who thought zombies were a super fun way to take over the world. Or something.

"I hate necromancers," He exclaimed. "They always try to order me around when I tell them to stop mucking with things."

"I also hate zombies..." He paused considering which he disliked more. With a toothy grimace, he shrugged to himself, indicated some sort of tie before portaling away.


	6. Chapter 6

Six:

Harry Potter was doing something he really shouldn't. Again. He smiled to himself thinking about how pissed off Professor Snape would be if he could see him now. Hermione would have tried to talk him out of it, but eventually relented and bravely stayed to watch. Ron would have been lost amid all the ancient runes and ceremonial riff raff, then he'd cheer him on with manly thumbs up and a butter beer upon accomplishment. Professor Mcgonagall would have been in an impressive Scottish tizzy fit, and Dumbl... well, anyways, he really shouldn't be doing this. Regardless, he was determined to see them again. All of them.


	7. Chapter 7

Seven:

The runes were drawn, the diagram was charmed straight, every detail was as perfect as Harry could make it. Even the summoning ritual's oddly specific descriptions for red chicken feathers here and greenish robin's eggs over there were laid out.

Thank heavens that no requirements from anything sentient had been called for. The-Boy-Who-Lived-Twice didn't want to consider himself depraved enough to even go that route to achieve his ends. He didn't think the people he was trying to help would even want that kind.

With one last, deep breath, and a tight grip on the Deathly Hollows, Harry began the invocation to summon Death.


	8. Chapter 8

Eight:

" -and that is why you shouldn't use necromancy so lightly. Have I made myself clear?" Death finished, his glare pinning down the three would-be world conquerors, who were now almost as pale as him.

"This is your one and only warning, ladies and gentleman. There are very few reasons to causally use necromantic magics, and it will only be overlooked if it was for a just cause." He eyed... er... eyesocketed them menacingly. One raised their hand, sweating and shaking, as if asking a teacher permission to speak. Death lighted his glower, glancing a bit forlornly down at his chicken feather covered robes. Necromancy was rarely a clean art.

"Yes?"

"Uhhh... I... ! Um..." Death waited patiently for the woman to speak.

"D-do you mean to say that if necromancy is used for a good cause it's okay for us t-to..." She trailed off.

"No, not a good cause, miss. A _just_ cause."


	9. Chapter 9

Nine:

Necromancers dissuaded, a last moment recovery of an enchanted necklace about to hit lava that wasn't supposed to be destroyed yet, three more mildly positive send offs to the deceased, and Death was onto item 327,422,611,009.

"Hmmm, okay next is..." He paused, staring down at his ever-filling journal incredulously.

"A summons from a _Master of Death_ for _me_?" If he could blink repeated in an attempt to clear his vision, Death would have done so. Maybe twice to be sure. Checking the name of the listed summoner, he quickly activated his cloak of invisibility and portaled to this 'Harry James Potter'.


	10. Chapter 10

Ten:

Upon arriving, Death had two immediate impressions. One, was that there were yet more chicken feathers. He really wasn't all that related to or fond of chickens, he mused, so why did everyone use their feathers to summon him or his magics? Second, was that the man in front of him probably deserved the peace of death more then most.

The man, and he was barely that, was over-thin with whipcord muscles on long, gangly limbs. Messy hair, messy robes, and very striking green eyes filled with loss and sorrow. One look and Death's on-coming feelings of insult and displeasure at someone daring to summon him began to fall away.


	11. Chapter 11

Eleven:

The boy was wearing one of his old cloaks, the ragged thing had to be several millenia old. The ebon gem in his ring was nothing more then a polished stone from the hilly path that lead up to his modest manor in the underworld. Last, but not least, the waifish man, who must incidentally be a wizard as well, held tight to a wand made of elder wood. It gleamed white in the candle light of the empty room they were in, hinting at the sheen from the bone-elder trees that lined his backyard.

In a moment of profound pity, Death let go of his mild ire and revealed himself to a living person for the first time in a long, long time.

"Hello." He began, pausing a moment at the startled intake of breath Harry James Potter made. When no hysterics followed, he continued.

"Why have you summoned me?"


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: A note: Yes, I know the super short chapters are odd. Stick with me here, 'kay? The point of the short chapter style is to make your brain pause on the last line of the page as the next chapter loads. Every last line will be a little bit meaningful, some more then others, so there is a purpose besides making you want to shoot me. :P

Twelve:

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you, shorty? I know you've been out there like a bajillion times, but it's in that creepy forest. Middle of Nowhere-ville." Asked Yang as she ruffled Ruby's hair, earning a mild arm flail and pouty face from the smaller girl.

"No Yang, I'll be _fine_. I'll only be gone for a week, just a quick visit to leave some flowers, and then we'll go apartment hunting okay?"

Yang shrugged. "Okay, but if you're late getting back I'm ordering pizza every night on your card!"

"Wha-but-I-That's Not fair!" Ruby sputtered in return, to which her sister just grinned cheekily


	13. Chapter 13

Thirteen:

The flight out to the backwater was long and boring, but Ruby still visited every year. Staring out at the night sky through the floor to ceiling windows, ignoring both the chatter of other passengers and the low hum of the news holovids across the cabin, Ruby was close to falling asleep.

"BEEP! BE-BEEEEP!" Went her cell phone, and she rushed to quell the message alert tone. Mouthing a 'sorry!' to a nearby woman who glared at the sudden sound, Ruby hit the unlock and waited for the facial recognition to verify her face.

'You have: 1 New Message' read the display. 'From: Tia Xiao Long - Hey sweetheart, Yang told us you're coming home to visit Summer. If you have time, stop by okay? We miss you! Xoxoxo.' Ruby smiled sleepily and replied.

'Hey mama! Yeah, I'm going out to tell mom that I graduated. I'll stop by before I head back, see you soon!' A few clicks and soft beeps later the message was on it's way.


End file.
